


Meeting at the laundromat

by Melime



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Adoribull Prompt Sunday, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, First Meetings, M/M, Modern Thedas, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-10-20 03:10:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10653684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melime/pseuds/Melime
Summary: Dorian was pretty sure he had lost control over his life. People who had their lives put together wouldn’t be standing in a laundromat at 2 a.m. wearing nothing but boxers and a robe.





	Meeting at the laundromat

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Português brasileiro available: [Se conhecendo no laundromat](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10653696) by [Melime GreenLeaf (Melime)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melime/pseuds/Melime%20GreenLeaf)



> Anonymous asked: Sunday Adoribull Prompt - Met you at the laundromat AU

Dorian was pretty sure he had lost control over his life. People who had their lives put together wouldn’t be standing in a laundromat at 2 a.m. wearing nothing but boxers and a robe. Then again, the simple fact he had to wait for his paycheck to have enough money to wash his clothes since his dorm’s machine was broken already showed that his life was not what he wanted it to be. Just the previous year, he wouldn’t even need to worry about that happened to his clothes once they became dirty, much less how to clean them, but that was before he decided to run away from home and start college on a scholarship.

At the moment, his only luck was that there was no one there to witness his humiliation, but it seemed like that was about to change, if the car parking right in front was carrying another client, and it seemed like it was. He managed not to stare at the man too much, even though he was still trying to get used to Skyhold’s small Qunari population.

“Do you have change for ten sovereigns?”

The question startled Dorian. “Excuse me?”

“I asked if you have change for ten sovereigns, the change machine is broken.”

“Oh.” Dorian went through the pockets of his robe, and after some search he managed to get enough silvers. “Here.”

“Thanks,” he replied, taking the coins and giving him a ten sovereigns bill. “I’m the Iron Bull, by the way.”

“Dorian.” He went back to where his machine was, and did his best to ignore the stranger.

A couple minutes later Dorian sneezed, and rubbed his arms with his hands. The South was always far too cold, but his lack of clothes didn’t help.

“Cold?” Bull asked.

Dorian shrugged. “I may have miscalculated how much laundry I had to do.”

“Been there, done that. Once I spent an entire week going to class without a shirt because I ripped the only one I had, and you would be surprised to see how hard it is to find a shirt that can pass by those,” he said, turning his head to emphasize his horns.

“I can imagine.”

Bull took off his jacket, and handed it to Dorian. “Here, you can use it if you want it.”

Dorian looked at the jacket and then at Bull and back at the jacket. “Excuse me?”

“If you’re cold, you can use my jacket. The temperature doesn’t bother me.”

Dorian had to think about it for a moment, but the offer seemed in good faith, and he was doing himself no favors if he ended up with a cold, so he accepted the jacket. “Thank you.”

Bull shrugged. “It’s no biggie.”

Only then, Dorian noticed that this was the team jacket for the Skyhold State University’s rugby team. He would have found it odd that someone with one eye played on the team, but since a Qunari playing was even more odd, he didn’t question that. “You go to SSU?”

Bull was distracted with his laundry. “Hm? Oh, yeah, it’s my first semester, sports scholarship. Do you?”

“Go nugs,” he said, referring to their mascot. “Yes, I just got in as well, academic scholarship. What do you study?” The absurdity of starting a conversation while in his underwear wasn’t lost on him, but he barely knew anyone in this city, and this was probably the longest conversation he had in months with someone who wasn’t a professor or his roommate Felix.

“Architecture, you?”

Dorian raised an eyebrow. “Well, that’s unexpected. Your people isn’t exactly known for their architecture. I myself am a cliche, magical theory with fire as my elemental and I’m already starting some specialization classes in necromancy.”

“I’m a bit of a rebel. And I didn’t know you could take specialization classes this early. Not that I know all that much about magic, I really don’t like it.” He saw Dorian visibly clench, probably bracing for an attack that was likely to follow this type of statement, since even in this day and age, mages still had to deal with a lot of hate. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to jump you or anything. I don’t go around attacking mages just because all this talk of demons and magic makes me uncomfortable.”

Dorian relaxed, although not completely. “That often isn’t the case, it’s one of the hardest things to get used to here in the South.”

“More than the lack of slaves?” To Dorian’s raised eyebrow, he added, “I can tell you’re an Altus. You have this whole air about yourself.”

Dorian nodded, conceding the point. “Kudos for being the first one not to call me evil Magister. And yes, my father has slaves, and I never thought much about that until coming here, but some things I’m learning are beginning to change my mind. There are many things I would like to change about my homeland, and although I can’t say that’s on the top of my list, it’s there, and who knows, maybe one day I can actually take my father’s sit and propose some actual changes. That is, if he doesn’t have me assassinated first, we didn’t part in good terms.”

“Then maybe there’s hope for you yet. Say, what do you think of Antivan?”

“I’m sorry?”

“There’s a pretty good Antivan restaurant on the way back to the campus that stays open until four, do you wanna grab a bite to eat?”

Normally, Dorian would have said no, but once you hit a certain level of absurdity, sensible decisions don’t seem like they matter all that much anymore, and he could probably give himself that little indulgence. “You know what? Give me a ride back to campus and it’s a deal, the prospect of taking this bag back by bus is daunting enough. You’ll have to give me time to change first though, I won’t leave here dressed like this.”

Bull smiled. “I like your decision making process. A ride it is then.”

Dorian ended up smiling too. Who knows, maybe there was something to be said about losing control over his life.


End file.
